SCIENCE. 



207 



amy, are correlative parts of one regulation, and the Wyan- 

 dottes, like all other tribes of which we have any knowledge 

 in North America, are both endogamous and exogamous. 



Polygamy is permitted, but the wives must belong to 

 different gentes. The first wife remains the head of the 

 household. Polyandria is prohibited. A man seeking a 

 wife consults her mother, sometimes direct, and sometimes 

 through his own mother. The mother of the girl advises 

 with the women councillors to obtain their consent, and the 

 young people usually submit quietly to their decision. 

 Sometimes the women councillors consult with the men. 



When a girl is betrothed, the man makes such presents to 

 the mother as he can. It is customary to consummate the 

 marriage before the end of the moon in which the betrothal 

 is made. Bridegroom and bride make promises of faithful- 

 ness to the parents and women councillors of both parties. 

 It is customary to give a marriage feast in which the gentes 

 of both parties take part. For a short time at least, bride 

 and groom live with the bride's mother, or rather in the 

 original household of the bride. 



The time when they will set up housekeeping for them- 

 selves is usually arranged before marriage. 



In the event of the death of the mother the children be- 

 long to her sister or to her nearest female kin, the matter 

 being settled by the council women of the gens. As the 

 children belong to the mother, on the death of the father 

 the mother and children are cared for by her nearest male 

 relative until subsequent marriage. 



NAME REGULATIONS. 



It has been previously explained that there is a body of 

 names, the exclusive property of each gens. Once a year, 

 at the green-corn festival, the council women of the gens 

 select the names for the children born during the previous 

 year, and the chief of the gens proclaims these names at the 

 festival. No person may change his name, but every per- 

 son, man or woman, byhonorable or dishonorable conduct, 

 or by remarkable circumstance, may win a second name 

 commemorative of deed or circumstance, which is a kind 

 of title. 



REGULATIONS OF PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 



Each clan has a distinctive method of painting the face, 

 a distinctive chaplet to be worn by the gentile chief and 

 council women when they are inaugurated, and subse- 

 quently at festival occasions, and distinctive ornaments for 

 all its members, to be used at festivals and religious cere- 

 monies. 



REGULATIONS OF ORDER IN ENCAMPMENT AND MIGRATIONS. 



The camp of the tribe is in an open circle or horse- 

 shoe, and the gentes camp in the following order, begin- 

 ning on the left and going around to the right: 



Deer, Bear, Highland Turtle (striped), Highland Turtle 

 (black), Mud Turtle, Smooth Large Turtle, Hawk, Beaver, 

 Wolf, Sea Snake, Porcupine. 



The order in which the households camp in the gentile 

 group is regulated by the gentile councillors and adjusted 

 from time to time in such a manner that the oldest family is 

 placed on the left, and the youngest on the right. In mi- 

 grations and expeditions the order of travel follows the 

 analogy of encampment. 



PROPERTY RIGHTS. 



Within the area claimed by the tribe each gens occupies 

 a smaller tract for the purpose of cultivation. The right of 

 the gens to cultivate a particular tract is a matter settled in 

 the council of the tribe, and the gens may abandon one 

 tract for another only with the consent of the tribe. The 

 women councillors partition the gentile land among the 

 householders, and the household tracts are distinctly marked 

 by them. The ground is re-partitioned once in two years. 

 The heads of households are responsible for the cultivation 

 of the tract, and should this duty be neglected the council 

 of the gens calls the responsible parties to account. 



Cultivation is communal ; that is, all of the able-bodied 

 women of the gens take part in the cultivation of each 

 household tract in the following manner : 



The head of the household sends her brother or son into 

 the forest or to the stream to bring in game or fish for a 

 feast ; then the able-bodied women of the gens are invited 

 to assist in the cultivation of the land, and when this work 

 is done a feast is given. 



The wigwam or lodge and all articles of the household 

 belong to the woman — the head of the household — and at 

 her death are inherited by her eldest daughter, or nearest 

 of female kin. The matter is settled by the council women. 

 If the husband die his property is inherited by his brother 

 or his sister's son, except such portion as may be buried 

 with him. His property consists of his clothing, hunting 

 and fishing implements and such articles as are used per- 

 sonally by himself. 



Usually a small canoe is the individual property of the 

 man. Large canoes are made by the male members of the 

 gentes, and are the property of the gentes. 



RIGHTS OF PERSON. 



Each individual has a right to freedom of person and se- 

 curity from personal and bodily injury, unless adjudged 

 guilty of crime by proper authority. 



COMMUNITY RIGHTS. 



Each gens has the right to the services of all its women 

 in the cultivation of the soil. Each gens has the right to 

 the service of all its male members in avenging wrongs, 

 and the tribe has the right to the service of all its male 

 members in time of war. 



RIGHTS OF RELIGION. 



Each phratry has the right to certain religious ceremonies 

 and the preparation of certain medicines. 



Each gens has the exclusive right to worship its tutelar 

 god, and each individual has the exclusive right to the pos- 

 session and use of a particular amulet. 



CRIMES. 



The violations of rights are crimes. Some of the crimes 

 recognized by the Wyandottes are as follows : 



1. Adultery. 4. Murder. 



2. Theft. 5. Treason. 



3. Maiming. 6. Witchcraft. 



A maiden guilty of fornication may be punished by her 

 mother or female guardian, but if the crime is flagrant and 

 repeated, so as to become a matter of general gossip, and 

 the mother fails to correct it, the matter maybe taken up 

 by the council women of the gens. 



A woman guilty of adultry, for the first offence is pun- 

 ished by having her hair cropped ; for repeated offences 

 her left ear is cut off. 



THEFT. 



The punishment for theft is two-fold restitution. When 

 the prosecutor and prosecuted belong to the same gens, 

 the trial is before the council of the gens, and from it there 

 is no appeal. If the parties involved are of different gentes, 

 the prosecutor, through the head of his household, lays the 

 matter before the council of his own gens ; by it the mat- 

 ter is laid before the gentile council of the accused in a 

 formal manner. Thereupon it becomes the duty of the 

 council of the accused to investigate the facts for them- 

 selves, and to settle the matter with the council of the 

 plaintiff. Failure thus to do is followed by retaliation in 

 the seizing of any property of the gens which may be 

 found. 



MAIMING. 



Maiming is compounded, and the method of procedure 

 in prosecution is essentially the same as for theft. 



In the case of murder, if both parties are members of the 

 same gens, the matter is tried by the gentile council on 

 complaint of the head of the household, but there may be 

 an appeal to the council of the tribe. Where the parties 

 belong to different gentes, complaint is formally made by 

 the injured party, through the chief of his gens, in the fol- 

 lowing manner; 



